RAIN GETS HERE TOMORROW AND WHEN WE COULD SEE STORMS AS WELL. BACK TO YOU GUYS. THANK YOU, ELIZABETH. THIS DRAWBRIDGE IS ACTUALLY ONE OF THREE LEFT IN VOLUSIA COUNTY, BUT THAT IS ABOUT TO CHANGE. A NEW HIGH-RISE DRAWBRIDGE IS GOING TO SPAN OVER ORANGE AVENUE IN THE DAYTONA BEACH AREA. THIS IS BASICALLY WHAT IT'S GOING TO LOOK LIKE. EVAN LAMBERT IS IN DAYTONA BEACH RIGHT NOW AND I THINK THE BIG QUESTION IS WHEN IS CONSTRUCTION SPOTS TO START ON THIS? THE VOLUSIA COUNTY ENGINEER SAYS CONSTRUCTION WILL START IN EARLY 2015. THEY'RE GOING TO TAKE THE OLD BRIDGE AND SINK IT TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN AND MAKE IT A PART OF AN ARTIFICIAL REEF. THIS IS WHAT THE NEW ONE IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE, JUST TO THE NORTH. THIS IS MY SECOND TRIP ACROSS HERE. A RETIRED MAILMAN KNOWS A THING ABOUT LONG WALKS. EVERY DAY HE WALKS FOUR MILES, INCLUDING OVER DAYTONA BEACH'S VETERANS MEMORIAL BRIDGE. OVER TIME IT'S TAKEN A BEATING BUT THE BRIDGE IS GETTING A MAJOR UPGRADE AND BY 2017, IT WILL LOOK LIKE THIS, SPANNING HIGH OVER THE HALIFAX RIVER, JUST SOUTH OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY BOULEVARD BRIDGE AT ORANGE AVENUE. IT'S PRETTY. IT LOOKS NICE. VOLUSIA COUNTY ENGINEERS SAY THE BRIDGE ISN'T JUST A VISUAL MARVEL, BUT MORE EFFICIENT WITH A MAXIMUM HEIGHT OF MORE THAN 65 FEET. IT WILL NO LONGER BE A DRAWBRIDGE. FOR CARS AND PEDESTRIANS, THE LANES WILL BE WIDER AND SAFER. I GET SCARED SOMETIME WALKING THIS BECAUSE PEOPLE GET NEXT TO THE CURB AND I STAY OVER NEXT TO THE RAILING. THE NEW DESIGN INCLUDES CONCRETE BARRIERS BETWEEN THE LANES OF TRAFFIC AND WIDER SIDEWALKS. IT WILL ALSO PAY TRIBUTE TO ITS NAMESAKE WITH THIS VETERANS PLAZA DEDICATED TO THE FIVE BRANCHES OF THE ARMED SOURCES. I'M NOT READY TO PEDAL OVER THAT HIGH OF A BRIDGE YET. SOME WORRY ABOUT THE HEIGHT WILL BE DAUNTING, BUT THE PROJECT INCLUDES TWO FISHING PIERS ON EITHER SIDE. THIS MEAN ONE MORE CHALLENGE FOR HIS WORKOUT. AS WE TAKE A LIVE LOOK, TRAFFIC IS MOVING HERE RIGHT NOW, BUT WE HAVE SEEN PEOPLE WAITING FOR THE DRAWBRIDGE TO GO DOWN. IT WON'T HAPPEN WITH THE NEW BRIDGE BECAUSE IT WILL BE HIGH ENOUGH FOR BOATS TO SAIL RIGHT UNDER IT. IT'S AN AMBITIOUS PROJECT. WHO IS PAYING FOR ALL THIS? WHERE IS THE MONEY COMING FROM? THE $43 MILLION IS ALL FEDERAL FUNDING. THE BRIDGE IS SO OLD IT QUALIFIES TO BE REPLACED. SO NOTHING COMING FROM LOCAL

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -

Plans are moving ahead for a $43-million makeover to the Veterans Memorial Bridge in Daytona Beach, with completion projected in 2017.

According to Volusia County Engineer Jerry Brinton, the new bridge will be the first of its kind in Florida. He describes the design as a concrete arch bridge based on they style of bridges built in the 1920s. It'll rise to a new height of more than 65 feet, eliminating the need for a draw bridge at the crossing of the Halifax River at Orange Avenue.

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The bridge is named after hotellier and veteran Tom Staed and will pay tribute to servicemen and women from all five branches of the military. A planned veterans plaza will accompany the bridge project with space to host celebrations or ceremonys. Lookout posts will also be placed along the bridge's span, adorned with plaques that tell the stories of those in the service.

Brinton says the bridge will feature wider lanes of traffic and sidewalks and concrete barriers between the traffic and pedestrians. To make the bridge more handicapped friendly, battery chargers will be installed for people who use electric-powered wheelchairs and worry the bridge's height will deplete their batteries.

Federal funding will pay for the bridge construction and design in its entirety, since the current bridge rated so low on an assessment of bridge health. It qualified for replacement, but the county maintains in its current state the bridge is still safe for cars and pedestrians to cross.

In public meetings about the new bridge's design, fishermen had complained about their inability to fish because of the new bridge's height, but those concerns have been met with plans to incorporate two fishing piers on either side of the bridge.

Structural design is still ongoing and construction is set to begin in early 2015, with a two-year timeline before completion. The bridge will be closed during the entirety of the construction process.

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